


That time Lance knew who Oliver was

by srmiller



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2014-01-20
Packaged: 2018-01-09 09:54:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/srmiller/pseuds/srmiller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by everyone wondering why Detective Lance hasn’t figured out Arrow is Oliver Queen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That time Lance knew who Oliver was

Lance woke up on a cold, hard table with a blinding light shining down at him from the high ceiling above him.

His side hurt like a mother, and he suddenly remembered getting stabbed by a super-solider before the Arrow had shot the other man with an arrow, putting the soldier down.

"Oh, thank God. Don’t move Detective, we managed to stop the bleeding and stitch you up, but you’re going to want to take it slow."

A small hand pressed against his arm, gently pushing him back down to the table. A glance to his right and he saw Felicity Smoak standing over him, her eyes warm and concerned behind her glasses.

"I’m fine."

Holding a hand to his side he sat up with a little help from the blonde and swung his legs off the table, dangling a few inches off the floor.

The room was familiar, and he immediately remembered it being filled with tables and chairs and crates of liquor almost a year ago. _Merlyn,_ he thought absently and without malice. A friend covering for a friend. He could understand that.

But the bottles and chairs were gone, replaced by chrome and glass and weapons shining against the dim gray concrete of the walls.

Not a bad a place, all things considered.

He turned his head till he saw Oliver Queen, still wearing the green leather pants, hood down, mask lying lifeless on a table nearby. His eyes were steady but hesitant, his jaw locked as their gazes collided.

"Queen."

There was a moment of silence as Felicity and Oliver glanced at each other, Lance soaked it up with a wry grin and briefly wondered where the driver was and why he wasn’t there.

"You don’t sound surprised Mr. Lance."

His chuckle was dry as he slid off the table, holding up a hand when Felicity moved to help him.

"Why would I be?"

"You knew Oliver was the Arrow?"

"Knew is kind of a specific word," he admitted. "I didn’t want to know. I spent a good part of last year tracking you down."

"I remember."

"I wanted you out of the game in a bad way, but then the Undertaking and everything since…When I realized Ms Smoak here trusted you, when she called you a hero, I came to realize you lived in the gray area Queen, when all my life I’d only seen black and white, but I saw how you wanted to do right by this city and I could understand that."

Lance pulled up his shirt, pulling back the gauze to check the wound and had to give credit to kid, the stitches didn’t look bad.

"So if you knew who I was why didn’t you turn me in?"

"I tried that already, remember? I ended up looking like an ass." Lance put the gauze back and dropped his shirt with a sigh, "But mostly I didn’t want to know. I’m still a cop Queen, and you’re still a criminal no matter your intentions. If I knew who you were I’d feel compelled to turn you in."

With a shrug he glanced at Felicity and the bank of computers behind her and realized how she’d been able to do what she’d done in searching for the Doll Maker among others. Queen had spared no expense for his crusade.With envy he wondered what the department could do with equipment like that.

He looked back at Oliver, “So when the Arrow used a phrase I was used to hear from Oliver Queen, I ignored it. When I heard you say Felicity and thought the way you said it sounded familiar I chalked it up to coincidence. I’m a damn good detective Queen, even if I’m back in uniform, so I shut down those instincts which would have put fact A with fact B and come with Oliver Queen is the Arrow. No offense to your cunning disguise but if I hadn’t, I would have known who you were from the start.

"Not to mention you and I have a past which isn’t connected to the Arrow, and as long as I remained ignorant I could let myself continue working with you and helping this city. Because right now it needs the Arrow on the streets more than Oliver Queen behind bars."

Lance watched the IT take a step towards the vigilante, sharing a long glance as the distance between them shortened and he could practically hear the conversation passing between them in a language he couldn’t decipher.

Finally Felicity put her hand on Oliver’s shoulder, turning from the man in green to the cop in blue, “What are you going to do Detective?”

He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but he’d decided not long ago what he’d do when he finally found out who the Arrow was.

"You saved my life, both of you. I figure I owe you one."

**Author's Note:**

> [share on tumblr if you liked it!](http://awriterincowboyboots.tumblr.com/post/79045105470/that-time-lance-knew-who-oliver-was)


End file.
